Elisabeth Easther (born 1970) is a New Zealand actor, broadcaster, journalist and playwright. She played Carla Crozier on New Zealand soap opera ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand Prime time, prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital. The show was first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992 and is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, be ...

'' from May 1995 to July 1996, and has since had a varied career in television, radio, journalism and playwriting. Her play ''Seed'' won the

Adam NZ Play Award The Adam NZ Play Award is an annual award in New Zealand given to new plays. There are a range of categories and submitted plays are read blind by a panel of industry professionals. History The award started in 2008 and was initially called t ...

for Best Play in 2014.

Early life and education

Easther is the daughter of Shirley Maddock, New Zealand's first female television producer and pioneering broadcaster, and her husband Michael Easther, general practitioner. She attended Waikato Diocesan School for Girls. Easther initially planned to study law at university, but ended up graduating from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in theatre and film. She subsequently attended drama school

Toi Whakaari Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School is New Zealand's national drama school. It was established in 1970 and is located in Wellington, New Zealand, in the Te Whaea: National Dance & Drama Centre. Toi Whakaari offers training in acting, costume constru ...

and graduated in 1992 with a Diploma in Performance.

Television and radio career

Easther's first notable acting role was in 1994 as the costume actor of a dinosaur called Victoria on the Australian children's television show ''

Johnson and Friends ''Johnson and Friends'' is an Australian children’s television program that originally aired on ABC from 3 September 1990 to 10 July 1997. It was produced by Film Australia and was created by Ron Saunders, John Patterson and Ian Munro. I ...

''. Easther played the villainous character Carla Crozier on New Zealand soap opera ''

'', from May 1995 to July 1996. The character was notable for being the show's first murderer, and featured on one of the show's highest-rated episodes of all time, which aired on 31 May 1995 and was watched by nearly a quarter of the New Zealand population. In February 2021, Easther returned to Shortland Street to play Crozier (now Dr Carla Summerfield) on a short-term contract. She has continued to act on television and in commercials, including playing the supporting role of Fran on the show ''Outrageous Fortune'' in series 3 and 4, and appearing on sketch comedy ''Funny Girls'' in 2016. Since March 2008 she has been a regular host on weekly radio show ''The Week That Was'' with fellow radio personality

Te Radar Te Radar (born Andrew J. Lumsden) is a New Zealand comedian and television personality. Lumsden studied law at the University of Otago, but abandoned his original course of study and went through Theatre Studies at Allen Hall.''New Zealand on Scr ...

for

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

. Easther has also done voice-over work for the

Power Rangers Jungle Fury ''Power Rangers Jungle Fury'' is the sixteenth season of the American television series '' Power Rangers'', and is an adaptation of '' Juken Sentai Gekiranger'', the thirty-first Japanese ''Super Sentai'' series. The season premiered on Februa ...

television series and commercials for Whittaker's chocolate and Sky TV. She was the voice-over artist for the character The Maven in an update to the video game

Path of Exile ''Path of Exile'' is a free-to-play action role-playing video game developed and published by Grinding Gear Games. Following an open beta phase, the game was released for Microsoft Windows in October 2013. A version for Xbox One was released in ...

released in January 2021. In 2018, Easther was the host of a remake of ''Islands in the Gulf'', New Zealand's first documentary series, that had been produced and hosted by her mother in 1964. Easther visited islands in the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2, Reviewer Greg Bruce, writing in the ''

NZ Herald New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 600 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and l ...

'', described it as a "a loving homage to the original", and "classic Kiwi heartland television set in an increasingly expensive bit of Auckland's waterscape".

Writing career

Easther has written a number of plays, including ''Raw'' and ''Salt''. Her play ''Famous Flora'', about dress designer and brothel-owner Flora MacKenzie, was staged at Auckland adult entertainment venue the White House in November 2014. The ''NZ Herald'' review praised Easther's creation of "two incarnations of Flora", both as an older "fiercely independent woman with a shrewdly realistic understanding of the human condition", and her younger self "as a youthful entrepreneur who has embraced the liberation of gender roles and is swept up in the live-for-the-moment spirit of the war years". Easther's play ''Seed'', about four women's experiences of pregnancy, won the

for Best Play in 2014, as well as Best Play by a Woman Playwright. It was described by the judges as "highly entertaining, funny and sophisticated". It premiered at

the Basement Theatre The Basement Theatre is an Auckland theatre founded by Charlie McDermott in 2008. The theatre focuses on providing a venue for young people in the performing arts to enter the industry. Their priorities are making theatre accessible for both ...

in Auckland in June 2014, and was subsequently performed at the

Circa Theatre Circa Theatre is a professional theatre company in Wellington, New Zealand, that was established in 1976. They present a number of plays each year in their two auditoriums, and have a unique partnership and funding model with incoming shows unde ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

from 17 January to 14 February 2015. The NZ Herald review described ''Seed'' as a "sophisticated, witty and very contemporary meditation on the timeless processes of procreation". In July 2018, a production toured New Zealand as part of an Arts On Tour NZ event, including performances in Auckland, at the BATS Theatre in Wellington, at the

Isaac Theatre Royal The Isaac Theatre Royal (formerly known as the Theatre Royal) is a heritage building in Christchurch, New Zealand, designed by brothers Sidney and Alfred Luttrell. Built in 1908, it is the only operational Edwardian-style theatre remaining in ...

in Christchurch and at a number of regional theatres. Easther has written extensively as a journalist for the ''NZ Herald'' since 2012, as well as a book critic on radio and in print since 1993. She edited an anthology of fiction, non-fiction and poetry about New Zealand birds called ''Bird Words'', published in 2017. The anthology features NZ authors such as Denis Glover,

Hone Tuwhare Hone Peneamine Anatipa Te Pona Tuwhare (21 October 1922 – 16 January 2008) was a noted Māori people, Māori New Zealand poet. He is closely associated with The Catlins in the Southland region of New Zealand, where he lived for the latter ...

Janet Frame Janet Paterson Frame (28 August 1924 – 29 January 2004) was a New Zealand author. She is internationally renowned for her work, which includes novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous award ...

and Easther's mother, Shirley Maddock.

References

External links

Elisabeth Easther
on

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

Revisiting ''Islands of the Gulf''
interview with Easther, dated 23 February 2018
Michelle Hewitson interview: Elisabeth Easther
interview with Easther about her play ''Famous Flora'', dated 8 November 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Easther, Elisabeth 1970 births Living people New Zealand women dramatists and playwrights 21st-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights New Zealand soap opera actresses New Zealand magazine editors New Zealand women magazine editors New Zealand radio presenters New Zealand women radio presenters New Zealand women journalists New Zealand journalists Victoria University of Wellington alumni Toi Whakaari alumni People educated at Waikato Diocesan School